4 Tips to a Successful 30-Day Drawing Challenge

How many times have you started a drawing challenge and stopped after a week, or halfway through the month when life got crazy? (hand raises)

In October I completed a 30-day drawing challenge. Even though I’ve done a few in the past, this one taught me a lot about myself. Like, I’m not a fan of drawing prompts. But that’s a conversation for another day.

As artists, we like to believe that we create art each day, but the reality is we wear many hats and some days we don't actually create anything at all. Drawing challenges offer a way to reconnect to our creative selves and to experiment and push ourselves.

01

Set Specific Goal

Goals provide markers to measure against. Goals need to be achievable, measurable, and specific.

02

Schedule Time

Pencil time into your day, even if just for 15 minutes. Having time set aside for this specific goal gives it a measure of importance.

03

Theme / Medium

There are endless opportunities for what you draw and what you draw with, so adding specific guidelines will give each drawing session a jumping-off point.

04

Accountability

Without accountability, it’s easy to let your drawing sessions slip, especially when things get hectic. Whether you have a partner to keep you on task or you post to Instagram each day, having the expectations of others can offer a good pressure to deliver.

An example of my Drawing Challenge setup in October

• Reacquaint myself with pencil, graphite, and charcoal

• Sketch for 30 minutes min each day

• Fill the 2-page spread in my sketchbook each day

• Draw whatever inspired me in my surroundings - in other words, NO PROMPTS

• To share the drawings each day on instragram

In the end, there were days that the drawings came easily and I had a blast. Other days I found it more challenging and I had to pull from deep inside to come up with anything. In the end, my success came from the above-mentioned 4 pillars.